New automated license plate readers have appeared in Ballston.
Multiple readers have contacted ARLnow in recent days about new tech installed on traffic signal poles along Fairfax Drive, at the intersections with N. Stuart Street and N. Taylor Street. The devices bear the logo of Flock Safety, a distributor of police surveillance technology.
“The Arlington County Police Department has purchased FLOCK license plate readers and cameras to assist in police response to criminal incidents and investigations,” ACPD spokesperson Ashley Savage confirmed. “Officer training is anticipated to occur in October and additional communications will be shared with the community prior to this program becoming fully operational.”
Automatic license plate readers aren’t new to Arlington.
The county’s Commissioner of Revenue uses them to check that the county’s vehicles follow the registration, licensing and personal property tax provisions of county code and state law. ACPD also has cameras mounted on patrol vehicles, which alert officers to license plates associated with stolen vehicles and wanted individuals.
The use of Flock cameras by law enforcement is a somewhat controversial topic.
Flock argues that its plate readers provide law enforcement with additional evidence to help solve more crimes. The American Civil Liberties Union, however, has accused the company of creating “a nationwide mass-surveillance system” that “should be opposed outright” because of concerns about privacy and over-policing.
